Heroes Don't Live Forever, Ya Know?
by DarkTrappedDesire
Summary: Link always comes home, even if it's been a few hours or a few days, he always returns. Except the one time Ravio had to go looking for him. [ There isn't really a pairing at the beginning, but 2nd chap has RavioLink near the end. I think they're naturally cute together either way ] Warnings! This contains spoilers for the end of ALBW! Do not read if you want to finish the game!
1. Chapter 1

One would think he'd be used to it by now.

Every couple hours, maybe even every couple days if he's having a good run, Link will show up back on their doorstep, tired and knocked out either from exhaustion or injury.

It was a mystery to Ravio how he wasn't torn to pieces by now, such little pieces the worry wort wouldn't be able to find him again. It was a mystery that truly terrified him.

Yes, he was a coward. He was terrified of battle and, in general, his own home by default - monsters, enemies and creeps around every corner. It was enough to make anyone jump at the sound of a pin drop. But he wasn't terrified for himself, he was scared for his landlord - and, in moments of weakness, his best friend.

In better moments, Link would bust through the door, slamming it against his wall without a care before asking for a new weapon or to have one back. Ravio was all too happy to dance around for him then and give it to him, only asking for a fraction of the rupees he would charge others.

Ravio scooped up the boy into his arms once more, letting Sheerow grab the Master Sword from where it lay abandoned on the ground. He dropped him into the bed and sighed as he looked over the beaten skin that would heal in the blink of an eye, and the small bloodstains that would seem to vanish in thin air when he came back to wash it off.

He couldn't help sitting next to the boy and petting his hair while he took a well deserved rest, wanting to keep him calm and away from nightmares while he had the chance.

"Poor kid... Ya got all this responsibility on your shoulders, and had no one to warn ya.." he murmured, glancing at Sheerow as it gave small peeps that really only Ravio could understand, besides the bird's own species. "Yeah, I know Shree. But I can't fight! This is the best I can do for him. I'll keep giving him everything he needs until Yuga is finally 6 feet under, every single thing he asks for, I swear on it!"

Sheerow let out a peep to let him know he was being too loud again, both of them glancing at Link on the bed, who shifted onto his side and let out a small, content sigh. Yup, still asleep. "Good.." Ravio grumbled, standing up and going over to the items he still had out for sale, polishing them to take his mind off of the blond not too far away. "Please stay safe."

* * *

_No.. Where is he? What could he be doing?_

Ravio paced in the middle of him and Link's home, hands knotting together and eyes glancing constantly at the door as he waited for Link to burst in asking for a new tool or to plop down against it to let Ravio know he needed a rest after such a long time fighting. He'd been gone for days, even longer than usual, and the merchant awaiting him felt like going through every dungeon himself to find him.

"He's fine, he's fine.. Mr. Hero could never die, he's got too much to live for.." Ravio muttered to himself, looking up and passed his hood as Sheerow flew in his face, peeping worriedly. "What is it?" he coughed, not having been paying attention. Another few peeps made him lift his hands to his eyes. "Oh, uh.. Sorry Shree, I know it's not like me to cry." he apologized, glancing at the door again and hoping that this time Link would show up, grumbling about a puzzle being much too difficult for him and asking Ravio if he had any idea how to get through it. Whether Ravio would know the answer or not was a mystery to even him, but he kept waiting until he finally couldn't stand it anymore.

"He's never been gone a whole week, never..." Ravio said to himself, tightening his scarf and grabbing all of the tools he usually kept out for sale. Sheerow peeped beside him. "Being a coward isn't going to stop me from looking for him, Shree! I can at least try.. If I'm careful then I can just avoid all of the baddies and get through the puzzles Link already told me about." he planned, taking a deep breath as he stared at the door.

He knew that beyond it was a nice, cheerful world that was slowly being scared to death of what could be happening to their Princess - but even farther than that, to find his best friend he'd have to travel to a place he almost vowed never to see again. _Lorule... I guess it's time to come home._

And with that, he took a big step out the door.

* * *

"Mr. Hero! ... Mr. Hero!?" Ravio called out, searching high and low for his friend. He'd first asked Sheerow to fly over Hyrule and let him know if he saw head or tail of the boy, but no such luck had been found. So, he'd gone off to Lorule with the spare bracelet he'd kept. When he first received the one Link currently possessed, he'd demanded another one, not wanting to be disproportional at the time. Now, he could never be more glad that he was persistent.

He trekked passed the town village, asking if anyone had seen a boy with blonde hair, sea-foam green eyes and a big, long sword in his hand before heading down towards the more monster-populated area. He sighed every time he hit a dead end and had to return to Hyrule only to run around randomly and find another rip in Space-Time so he could get passed a huge gap in the world.

After an hour searching, he returned to Hyrule on another search for a new gap in the world. As he passed by their home and kept walking, he found the gates to Hyrule Castle opened, making Ravio pale. "Don't tell me.. I just missed him." he cursed to himself under his breath, wanting to turn back now that he knew Link was alive and well, the only one that would be able to get passed the barrier.

_But.. If he came back to see me after being gone for so long, I wouldn't have been there to give him what he needs._ Ravio thought to himself, mulling it over in his head before taking another deep breath and scampering into the castle, looking around for any bad guys before continuing and avoiding their path before getting into the castle itself.

It took him a while to reach the top level all on his own, his only help being Sheerow telling him when it's bird-senses kicked in and didn't want to go in a room. That made the journey quicker, he supposed, seeing as they got to their destination either way without having to do too many puzzles. Ravio finally found himself walking along a long stretch of cobble, wondering if he was going the right way before there was a 90 degree turn to his left, leading to a tall battlement.

Ravio glanced at his loyal bird, sharing an unsteady look before they turned to it again. "It's the last place we need to check.. If he isn't there, then.." the merchant couldn't finish, preparing himself as he slowly walked towards the open door. Everything seemed too calm, too quiet. He hated it, and this is why he stuck to selling, buying and trading weapons, instead of using them himself.

He got through the doorway and stopped cold, letting out a gasp at the mass he saw across the room. Link was laying there, pale, broken and looking like he was even having a rough time breathing on his own. Ravio stopped his cautious nature as soon as he could think, running to Link's side and dropping to his knees, looking over the various wounds that looked a lot harder to handle than the ones the hero usually came home with.

These looked fresh and old, bruises being various stages of purple to yellow and some cuts still bleeding while others were trying to patch themselves up like a body was born to do. Worst of all, it looked like Link's legs had been broken, one at the knee and other one in the middle of his femur, making Ravio cringe at the sight and need to look away for a moment to focus on caring for him instead of throwing up.

"Link.. Who did this to you..?" he sobbed, not realizing he was crying again, wiping it away quickly before clutching the blonde's hand when the room suddenly felt colder.

"If you'd like to know so badly, then why don't you turn around? You could join your little boyfriend in the afterlife once we tire of him."

* * *

**_Leave a favorite and a review if you want to see a second chapter for this!_**


	2. Chapter 2

Ravio stayed where he was for a second, trying to place the voice he'd just heard. _Please don't let it be him.. _he thought to himself as he slowly stood up, hand wrapping around the hilt of Link's sword that was laying between them. He was shaking, he didn't want to see what monster was behind him, and he didn't like the feeling of knowing he was going to have to fight to even suspect he could get out alive. _I'm a lover, not a fighter.. But I guess loving someone won't get me out of this._

With that thought, the merchant slowly turned around, eyeing the creature in front of him. It was Yuga, big and ugly and not looking anywhere near as human as he did when back in Lorule, whispering with his princess about some plan that he now wished he'd payed more attention to. Now, he looked like a beast in human's clothes.

"There~ Now we can get this over with." Yuga announced, getting into a battle-stance as a form near his right hand glowed, soon turning into his weapon of choice - a scepter. And if any of Link's wounds were proof enough, it could do some serious damage. Ravio got into a battle-stance too, the best one he could do without any proper battle training, and watched his opponents moves, wondering how he could get out of this mess.

There were quite a few options really, even if the door behind him had sealed shut he could see some cracks in the stone wall from the intense battles that had probably been repeated again and again in this very room. He could just slip into the wall and slip out of hear quickly if he could just make it to the other side of the room. There was also a whole in the roof, one big enough for Sheerow to help him through once he scampered up the wall.

Both ideas were very tempting, much more preferred than fighting a demon and most likely dying. But both options left Link behind in the end and with all that had happened, all the little talks they'd had about this fucked up adventure, all the times Ravio had cared for Link until he could get up and back to saving the world, all the nights they'd slept near each other because Ravio wouldn't allow himself to take the other's bed when he'd already taken his house and Link would be stubborn enough to force him not to sleep on the floor; he could never bear the guilt of doing that to him.

So, the only plan that stuck in Ravio's head was this: _Just keep dodging. If he can't hit you, you can't die - and eventually he'll make a mistake._

It was the best plan he had, really.

And so he did, every time Yuga got close enough to hit him, he would duck under or jump over his scepter with practiced ease. Every time the beast tried to taunt him into attacking, as much as he honestly wanted to, he didn't take a single step forward. If he did, then he would die - and as long as he kept that thought in mind, he would have enough sense in him to not screw up.

During the fight, he'd continuously rolled Link's body over to the far wall so he wasn't in a place to be stepped on. As much as it hurt him to move the blond while he was in such a state, he'd rather give the boy a little pain and keep him from death than not touch him at all and have Yuga bash his skull in on accident or purpose.

As the two fought, Ravio noticed that the beast was slowing down. He wasn't swinging around his scepter like normal, he was twirling it through the air and using fire-shoots to do the job instead, letting Ravio know he was getting to him. They had been fighting for over an hour, not a long time, but with how much zest Yuga had showed off at the start, it was easy to see he was getting tired.

_Alright, now just look for your chance..._

Every move the other made, he followed it or matched it, ready to dodge at a moment's notice. He couldn't even think about Link right now, he just had to focus on getting them both out alive, even if badly scratched up. The master sword shook a little in his hands but not as badly as when they'd begun - he fumbled with it and dropped it a few times within the first half-hour, giving plenty of chance for Yuga to steal it from him - thankfully, none of the chances were taken, for the means of a fair fight on Yuga's part.

Finally, Ravio thought he was going to win. The beast was retreating into the walls to get away from the very few and cheap attacks he dealt, making Ravio follow him into the wall after getting fed up of waiting and wanting this fight to be over. Yuga had taken away two hours of him doing his job, two hours of time he could be using to heal Link and two hours of time he was sure Hyrule would never fucking get back. To say he was irritated, as well as tense, was an understatement.

And just like he'd planned, now that Yuga was getting tired, he was getting clumsy. He watched all of his movements one more time before hopping out of the wall and running towards Link, grabbing the bow he'd lent the boy at the beginning of his journey and morphing right back into a painting. He stalked around the round battlement for a moment to make Yuga think before he fired a bow right at him, seeing it swirl around the wall as well before slamming right into Yuga's shield. He did that a couple more times, making his shots quicker as he went, before spinning around and shooting the other direction, making sure Yuga was still distracted with the previous ones.

His plan, as silly as he'd thought it was, worked. It hit Yuga right in the back and made him fall out of the wall in pain. Ravio smiled to himself, feeling proud that he could get this far without fighting the way he'd seen Link do before. He could be a hero just the way he was, even if just for a little while.

Ravio hopped out of the wall and saw that Yuga wasn't moving very much, seemingly immobilized by the arrow near his spine. It let Ravio breathe for a bit while he turned and ran back to Link's side, wanting to see if he'd patched himself up a bit in the two hours this had taken. A couple of the previously yellow bruises were gone, the rest of his wounds healing at a slow but steady pace. He wasn't sure how long it would take Link's legs to heal, maybe two weeks if his healing rate sped back up to usual, a month if it didn't. _You can be back home again in no time, Mr. Hero._

When he moved to touch Link's hand, he felt the blond stir. It was only a little bit but it was enough to let him know the hero would be just fine, if he was already becoming conscious again after such a bad round. Link lifted his head a bit, eyes bleary as he looked up to see Ravio there to help him.

For a second the blond smiled, seeming confused but comforted that Ravio was here - until his smile fell away and he looked terrified. "Ravio, mo-!"

The merchant didn't hear his warning, not knowing what hit him as the head of a scepter slammed into his back full force and he was plunged into darkness.

* * *

Bright light blurred his vision, making him feel dizzy and sick as he quickly shut his eyes again. He didn't want to be awake, being awake hurt too much.

It was better when he was asleep. He didn't feel pain, he wasn't worried, he hadn't immediately thought about- _Link!_

Despite everything in his being telling him not to, he tried to open his eyes again, feeling like he was going to throw up his lunch if he didn't shut them soon. Too bad for his stomach, because he pushed right through it, gritting his teeth as he tried to sit up. Just more pain..

He gave up at that, taking deep breaths as he felt two hands helping him back down. His vision was still blurry but he swore he saw yellow and green swirling in front of him, making him more open to giving up his efforts. Finally, his hearing kicked back in.

"Rav- 't move, you'r- an you even hear me?" came a familiar voice, making him smile a bit. Ravio didn't open his eyes again, not wanting to throw up on his landlord the first few moments he was awake. The pain in his back told him to go back to sleep, but he ignored it a bit longer.

"Mr. Hero, that you?" he got out, his words sounding a bit slurred though he didn't know if that was from his wounds or just waking up.

The hands that had helped him came back to hold his hand and give it a squeeze, obviously happy that he had responded. "Yeah, it's me.. You got hurt pretty bad back there, how do you feel?"

"Like a million rupees." Ravio grunted, laughing a little before groaning. He took a couple deep breaths again before cracking his eyes open. It didn't feel as bad as before, a good sign. He kept them open at that level until he could make out colors and movements a bit more, then glancing around where he was. They were back at his shop, at Link's house, and safely away from anyone that would want to harm them. "What happened after I got hit? I thought we were still at the castle.."

Link gave him a nod, glancing back at the pot of stew he'd been making before Ravio woke up. Both of their stomachs were growling but that could wait. It would have had to take a bit anyways, seeing as Link had a pair of crutches currently resting against the side of the bed so he could use them. His legs did still look pretty bad.. "We were. I woke up, you got hit by Yuga's scepter before he finally died, and I could crawl just enough to free Zelda from her painting before passing out too. I guess once she was free, she ran to get some guards to help us." the blond explained, making Ravio nod absently.

"You got a nice princess here, alright.. I guess since you fought Yuga, you know about Hilda?" the merchant asked, already knowing he would say yes. There was some hesitation on Link's part, but he got a nod, making Ravio rub his eyes with his free hand. "She isn't evil, I swear. She loved Lorule just as much as Zelda loves Hyrule-" he began to explain, but Link stopped him.

"I know, I know. I don't hold grudges well, Ravio, so don't even worry about that." he comforted softly. The two shared a moment of silence before Link looked at him again, seeming sheepish. "And thanks for saving me, Rav. I owe you my life."

"Yeah, yeah, but I'm still not a-" "Oh shut up, yes you are. I knew you looked familiar under that hood of yours." That made Ravio shut his mouth, looking around quickly before spotting his robe laid over Link's lap, meaning..

"Oh fuck.." Ravio mumbled, moving both hands to cover his face.

"Hey, I don't mind! It's like having a secret twin!" "People don't hold their secret twins' hand and share a bed with them, Mr. Hero." "Well, I do, so it doesn't matter. Gimme your hand back or you won't get any stew." "You can't starve me!" "It's my house, yes I can!"

It was easy to see that the two could settle down into a world without darkness quite well.

* * *

**_I know, non-intense ending is non-intense, but it gave me a feeling of closure so here you go._**

**_I hope you all like it! Leave a favorite and review to let me know what you think!_**

**_If you want to see another RavioLink fic by me, then go to my profile and click on the story "One More Kiss"._**


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